


Come Home

by singilu



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-11-13 08:23:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11180838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singilu/pseuds/singilu
Summary: Come Home, Sehun/Tao, NC-17, 15 791 words,-au, a/b/o verse- Sehun doesn't want to be claimed just because everyone expects him to be, not even if the most plausible candidate for his mate is Tao, who smells so delicious Sehun's constantly dizzy with it- inspired bythis prompt, however it has veered off





	1. Chapter 1

Sehun and Tao have been living in the big house on the outskirts of the city for a few years now, among a scattered pack of wolves living with humans. It isn't a pack, not in the conventional sense of the word, because if anyone wanted to leave, they could, and there's no set hierarchy among those who stay. Sometimes, a new wolf appears, stays for only a few weeks until they are ready to move on, hoping to find a better arrangement, maybe start a new pack for themselves or live out in the wilderness. Sometimes they take one of the occupants along. And sometimes they stay for good. Around the house, they mostly just take care of each other.

Sehun had stumbled in and stayed. They've been calling him their pup ever since, even if Jongin is only a few months older, as they found out when they did the math, and Tao only a year apart. But no one younger ever showed up since, and it stuck. They played well, Sehun and Tao, ever since Tao rolled close to Sehun that first night, most of them sleeping in a huge pile in the common room, and Sehun sunk his nose into the crook of his neck and took a deep breath. Tao smelled safe, maybe like home or the long planes of grassy fields that Sehun's ran from when another spa resort was built and the lone wolf that had found Sehun as a puppy had died of old age.

Now Sehun is twenty, and taking classes at the local college because learning to live with humans is better than running deep into the shrinking wilderness, away from them. Progress is necessary, and one day he'll work and earn his keep in this place and still have the comfort of a big family, warm blankets and a tangle of limbs at night, and the stretch of the woods just outside the neighborhood where he can run freely when human skin feels too tight. Tao teaches wushu at a martial arts school not far away from here and they still. They still play well, but things have changed, and Sehun curls up on the other side of the room from Tao at night and tries to clear his mind, tries to not let the scent of Tao's skin blur it, again.

Tao's an alpha. They've all known for a while now, for over two years maybe. He's grown into his skin, limbs thick and strong, jaw defined and eyes piercing. But he's still playful and mostly just a big ball of fluff (and gleaming silver fur when he turns). He paws at Sehun no matter what form they're in, slinks his arm over his shoulders and lets Sehun nose at his nape if he wants to because he knows it makes Sehun feel safe. Sehun is _his_ pup after all.

"I'll always want to take care of you, Hun," he says, and Sehun's belly warms with his words, as it always did, but now Sehun wants to curl into a ball until it goes away and he can breathe freely again.

Sehun is an omega. He's known for about a year now. No one else knows though, not yet. Or they all pretend they don't, anyway. Because there's no way they haven't gotten a whiff of him yet. Sehun shouldn't be afraid of the consequences. There are two more omegas in the house, and they've always been taken care of and protected. Baekhyun's been mated basically from the moment Chanyeol licked the first hint of pheromones off him, the same way he'd lick him clean every night before. Yixing, however, took longer. Sehun had only been in the house for ten months when Yixing scrambled from their blanket fort and up into the attic. He'd stayed locked in for three days and howled occasionally, and Sehun only understood what was going on when every alpha in the house disappeared for the same period of time.

After that, Yixing would sleep mostly with the younger wolves. There's always been herbs and ways to suppress the smell and the heat cycles, and Yixing had a choice. No one's touched him, not like that, until about a year ago, when he crawled into Minseok's arms on one cold night and never really left afterwards. Still Sehun doesn't want to think about how everything will change when he admits it to himself. He'd found out soon, the moment the scents around him shifted, just a little. He's always had a good nose. He's been around Yixing enough that he knows what to do to mask it, but his means are not perfect.

He tries to make himself comfortable in the blankets again, bare legs sticking together and shafting as he shuffles until he kicks someone. It's Chanyeol and he growls. In the next moment Sehun is pinned to the floor by Chanyeol's strong arm around his waist, Chanyeol lying on his stomach, his other arm still somehow around Baekhyun. It's the only reason Sehun doesn't panic.

"What's wrong, pup? Why are you here again?" Chanyeol's a friend, an alpha but a mated one, attached at the hip with Baekhyun. He's only a little older than Sehun, and they've had their share of adventures together over the time. Sehun slumps under the weight of his arm.

"How come no one has noticed yet?" he asks in the end. Chanyeol grunts when he doesn't continue. "That I'm an omega," he clarifies.

"Ahhh," Chanyeol sounds much less sleepy then. "Our pup is growing up," he mutters, the hand around Sehun's middle letting up a little.

"I know I smell different," Sehun mutters, annoyed.

"Well," Chanyeol muses, his fingers walking across Sehun's stomach as his arm retreats. "I believe for one to become someone, one has to come to terms with it. And maybe you aren't ready yet."

Sehun doesn't get it. "But I smell like―"

Chanyeol almost growls this time, low and warning. "I know how you _smell_ , Sehun. But don't you think we've all been giving you time until you are comfortable in your own skin? Or are you waiting for someone specific to notice before anyone else has a chance to court you?"

Sehun buries his face into a blanket. "Shut up," he hisses. Chanyeol sighs and pats his back.

"You should talk to Baek or Yixing in the morning. They might be more helpful than me. But for what it's worth, you're probably not the only one who's struggling with your discovery, and you've been dragging it out for a very long time."

And there it is, Sehun's fears served to him on a silver platter. Everyone will think he's Tao's to claim. Maybe even Tao will think he's automatically his to claim, but most of all, everyone will be expecting it. Wouldn't it be a natural transition, from best friends and play buddies to mates? But Sehun isn't so sure he even wants a mate. Tao's always felt safe, but Sehun is on the edge when he thinks about them kissing, when he thinks about Tao leaving deep marks of ownership on his neck, of Tao wanting a pup or three because that's what omegas are for after all. Sehun doesn't know if he wants to be anyone's mate. Maybe he's spent too long with the old lone wolf after all. Maybe what he's afraid of most is that one day his mate won't be there anymore and he'll end up wandering the edges of the woods on his own, just like the lone wolf did.

 

Sehun doesn't talk to Yixing or Baekhyun. Instead he sits on the edge of the meadow the next evening, watching overgrown grass rippling in the evening wind, until Tao finds him. Sehun knows he's approaching and that it's him long before he hears him shuffling. He could always recognize Tao's scent, but now it makes him dazed, the strong spicy pull on all of Sehun's senses, the arousal lurking in the pit of Sehun's stomach. Tao shuffles on purpose, like he's giving Sehun time to bolt, and Sehun fists the grass around himself and wills himself to stay in place and to stay calm.

"Sehunnie," Tao says, quietly, and sits down next to him. Normally, Sehun would drop his head on Tao's shoulder, nose buried in his neck, sides pressed together. Tonight, Sehun keeps his neck straight and his eyes on the curl of the sea of grass.

"Do you want to go for a run?" Tao asks. "If we wait another half an hour, it'll be dark enough here."

Tao's always made sure Sehun doesn't run alone. Even if no one else wanted to go, Tao always joined in. "It's not safe to go alone. It's not so much fun either," he'd always say, until Sehun stopped hesitating and started just demandingly dragging him along―until Sehun learned to never expect it to be otherwise.

"No," Sehun mutters. Tao drops his head on Sehun's shoulder instead. He doesn't lean into Sehun's space with all his weight like Sehun would, still giving Sehun a chance to stop him, to back away. He takes a deep breath, but his face stays turned towards the meadow in front of them. Sehun can smell his shampoo and his aftershave and the sweat stuck to his skin from a day in the studio. He can also smell the wolf in him, and he wants to lie down, belly up, and ask Tao to scratch at it or rub soothing circles into it until all the twisting and ache that he feels inside is gone. He also wants Tao's lips on his pulse point and Tao's hands on his hips. But maybe that's just instinct and any alpha would do. The thought makes him bend forward, hugging his knees and hiding his head in them, Tao's head dropping from his shoulder.

"Hun," Tao says, and this time his voice is deeper, almost a growl, so grave. Sehun grips his knees with more strength. "Okay. I'll just stay with you, so I know you're safe," Tao mutters after a moment. Sehun expects him to stay sitting down, maybe to stretch his legs in front of him and lean back, propping his palms behind his back so he can look up at the sky. Instead, Tao gets up, and Sehun hears him move further away into the shadow of the forest. He looks up, wondering if Tao's changed his mind and is leaving, but Tao's only leaning back against a tree, hands in his pockets, eyes ahead on Sehun and the landscape stretching in front of them.

"There's no need for camouflage techniques," Sehun says, trying to make his voice light. "Everyone in this forest knows you're here, and that they shouldn't come and provoke you. You're an alpha, remember," he adds, voice growing high pitched with nerves. Sehun's been teasing him like this, just after Tao grew into his skin, but still didn't know what everything meant, testing his boundaries. He does know now that just his presence is heavy in the air.

"I know what I am, Sehunnie," Tao says, and his eyes seem to gleam in the dark. "That's why I'm over here," he adds, only murmuring it with his next exhale, and Sehun thinks he didn't mean for Sehun to hear it, but he does. Sehun can't stay still after that, and he gets up to his feet, intending to go back, but the wind ruffles his hair, the forest howling from the strong gush of it, and...yes, he wants to go for a run.

When he shifts, Tao does too, not questioning the change of mind. Like this, Sehun rolls around in the grass for a while, hoping maybe Tao will join him and they could play, just like old times. Tao doesn't, only watches, so Sehun leaps up and towards him, playfully snapping at his ear. Finally, Tao barrels into him and they roll until Sehun takes off, running fast, with Tao, much bigger in his wolf form even if they're almost the same height otherwise, easily keeping up. Tao's presence is still heavy, but like this, it's easier to mask Sehun's want as just an urge to play and Tao does end up nipping at his nose, and then cleaning Sehun's belly from the mud he's plunged himself into in his effort to overtake Tao as they ran through the forest.

 

A week later, Sehun comes to eat lunch with Tao in the park near the studio where he works.

"You looked like they were teaching you a lesson, not the other way around," Sehun says, still laughing at the image of Tao on the floor, several kids piled on top of him, shouting in victory, until the first parent came in, surprised the lesson wasn't over yet. "Are you sure that you're qualified for this?" His stomach rolls, because Sehun saw how good Tao was with those kids, and it's...

"Hey, I'm not questioning your mad math skills just because you can't add up the prices of things in your grocery basket, either," Tao says, pushing at him playfully.

Sehun laughs, high pitched and stupid because he remembers Tao, flustered and blushing and mumbling, as he asked for half of the items to be taken back at the cash register when Sehun realized he didn't have the money for them that one time (or those ten times―Sehun's pulled the stupid prank way too often after that first unintentional occurrence, and Tao's always let him get away with it). A child starts crying in a stroller, two benches away from them. The mother gives Sehun a glare, looks like she's about to get up and come over to pull at his ear, just like Junmyeon would when Tao and Sehun got into their pantry and ate too much jelly when they were younger. Sehun's bowing his head quickly, and the mother steps to her stroller, throwing one more dirty look in their direction, and walks away. Sehun turns to Tao and only then notices him staring after her, teeth clenched.

"Tao," Sehun says. Tao smells of threat and intimidation. "Hey, calm down." Sehun runs his fingers over the knuckles of Tao's hand, and Tao's face softens.

"I don't like it when people think they can just come at you," he says.

"I woke up her child. She's probably just sleepy and cranky because the baby kept her up all night," Sehun says, chiding. Tao hangs his head.

"I know, I just." Then he looks up at Sehun and licks his lips. "Your laugh is really ugly. It's like a sea siren crying," he says.

Sehun slaps at him. "Like you're any better," he says, pouting. He expects Tao to poke his cheek, instead Tao just stares. When Sehun cocks his head, mouth forming a thin down-turned line to replace the pout, Tao gets up.

"Sehunnie, you're not just my pup anymore," he says. Sehun is hit with a wave of strong scent, of spices and power and of wet soil after the rain when Tao likes to run the best. "I can keep away if you want me to, but stop pushing yourself."

It's so sudden, the admission of what Tao knows heavy in the air between them, that Sehun stays rooted to the bench long after Tao's gone, with just "be careful on your way back," on his lips.

 

Sehun tries to sleep in one of the rooms upstairs, claiming upcoming exams as a reason for needing calm and seclusion. No one comments, but he feels cold and restless and probably fails the test his statistic professor springs on them the next day. A week of this and of avoiding not only Tao, but most of his housemates, and he's stretched too tight, limbs trembling and head constantly thrumming. It's also getting harder to keep the omega in him hidden. When he sees kids, he wants to come close and lick at them, pet their hair and nuzzle them. When he feels the presence of any alpha, he totters on the edge, whole body shaking. Mostly, though, he has the urge to get as far away as he can.

However, when Tao comes into the house, Sehun wants to burst out of his room, forget about the exam he's cramming for and all the confusing thoughts that are making it impossible anyway, and barrel into him, tuck himself under Tao's chin, wrap himself around him and just _be_ there. He knows Tao's been coming home really late and sleeping in the forest on some nights, coming in only when Sehun's in school if his schedule allows it. His chest hurts when he hears Chanyeol talking to him outside, low murmur he can't decipher even if he senses Chanyeol's worry and Tao's tension in the air. Most of all, he just really misses Tao, his silly smile, his stupid ideas that get him into trouble, his arms around Sehun's shoulders, their heads pressed together as they gossip, his voice as he talks Sehun to sleep, his bravado when they're both scared watching horror movies even as Tao insists on protecting Sehun from all that is evil. Sehun's about to burst with how much he misses it all and how much he wants it back.

 

When Yixing knocks on the door that night, Sehun only makes some kind of noise and doesn't protest when Yixing slips in. The next moment, Yixing is flopping himself next to Sehun, and Sehun's just so starved for companionship that he only swings one of his long legs over Yixing's own and sighs.

"Hey, pup," Yixing mutters, fingers already running through Sehun's hair, and that's when Baekhyun barrels into the room, slotting himself behind Sehun, trying to hook his own ankle over Yixings's, pinning Sehun in place.

"Slumber party," he singsongs. "We are here to share our deep wisdom with you."

"Baekhyun, no offense, but the only thing that is deep about you is your throat whe―ughoatwahnch." Sehun doesn't get to finish as Baekhyun attempts to smother him with a pillow, screaming about killing Chanyeol the next time he sees him. Sehun would almost, _almost_ believe him, if he didn't smell Chanyeol all over Baekhyun and didn't instinctively feel Baekhyun preening about it.

"Pups don't talk like that," Yixing says, eyes shining with laughter. Sehun grabs the pillow from Baekyhun, and willingly smashes it against his face.

"I'm not a pup anymore," he says into it, and they shouldn't have caught that but of course they do, and Baekhyun tightens his arm around Sehun's waist, Yixing squeezing Sehun's thigh still over his hip.

"You'll always be our pup," Yixing says.

"I'd just like to inform you that you'll be like one hundred years old, your fur will be white, and you'll be grumpy and toothless, and we'll still call you our pup," Baekhyun says, cheerfully. "So you really shouldn't worry about that."

Sehun groans pitifully because he's pretty sure they all know that's not the point of this ambush, but he stays quiet afterwards, and silence settles over them. He hasn't slept properly in days and he could fall asleep now, drift into unconsciousness with his companions around him again, but he really shouldn't. His friends are both mated, they both want to be in different arms for the night, and that thought makes his stomach hurt again.

"Don't think about it too much. We can stay the night," Yixing whispers then, like he knows, and he probably does, just from the way Sehun has curled in on himself. "Just sleep," Yixing adds, and behind him Baekhyun yips, like Sehun has heard him a million of times right before he falls asleep. He presses his back against Baekhyun's chest and pulls Yixing closer to his front and sleeps.

 

There's no running away from _the talk_ in the morning though.

"Do you hate it?" Baekhyun asks, and it's Yixing who's shaking his head before Sehun can even say anything, but the question hangs in the air for Sehun to answer.

"No, of course I don't, I...that's not it." Maybe life would be a little easier if Sehun was a beta.

"You've known so soon. You're very much in tune with yourself," Yixing muses. Yixing, who didn't notice until he went into his first heat. Sehun's not surprised. "You're not the only one though," he continues, "who's realized what you're becoming, I mean," and Sehun tenses.

"I'm not like Baekhyun," Sehun mutters. "I'm not sure I can just. I don't know if I want...right away."

Yixing pats his thigh. "You can take your time, but it doesn't mean you have to hide while doing it."

Baekhyun hums. "You might not give Tao the credit he deserves. If you just talked to him, you'd figure it out."

Sehun curls up into a ball again. "He smells so good," he mutters, "I mean he always kind of did, but now," Sehun wants to growl just thinking about it and his stupid whiny noises make Baekhyun laugh.

"Believe me, you smell even better to him."

"But it's Tao. He's...my friend, my equal, he knows everything bad about me, he's watched me do some really stupid things. I never thought..."

"I can't imagine what could be better than being mates with an alpha who respects you, treats you well, and is there for you no matter how stupid or stubborn you are," Bakhyun says then, eyebrow rising. "Would you really want to be with someone who would treat you as anything less, who would...exert dominance?" Baekhyun looks puzzled, and Yixing scrunches his nose at the term, muttering something about _authority_ being a much better word for it.

"Didn't we teach you self-respect?" Baekhyun asks, not letting Yixing interrupt.

Sehun's shaking his head. That's not it either, but he's just so confused.

"Maybe Sehun still needs to learn to respect Taozi back," Yixing muses. And of course Sehun respects Tao; he's long learned he can trust him, has always talked to him about everything and listen to his opinions, has always shared his views on life with him, he's always loved him.

Sehun freezes. Baekhyun sighs a little dramatically. "Don't panic again. Breathe," he says, and Yixing leans closer and sniffs behind Sehun's ear.

"Ah," he says, like he knows everything, and pats Sehun's butt. "You'll figure it out."

"Why is this omega business so complicated?" Sehun asks.

Baekyhun whoops. "He said it. He actually said it. Can we have an official party now?"

Sehun gives him a long blank look, lips pressed tight. "Well, maybe not _right_ now," Baekhyun amends, grinning.

"Small steps, small steps," Yixing mutters. "Now I need to go hug Minseokkie."

 

Sehun sleeps in the common room the next night. There's no big public declaration, but he lets Yixing mix his herbs differently and he knows he smells a bit more like an omega now, even if his heats should stay suppressed, still. Jongin comes close, takes a whiff, noses behind his ear and smiles.

"Someone smells nice," he mutters, and Sehun doesn't flinch or deny it.

"Is that a problem?" he asks, and Jongin laughs.

"That was a compliment," he says, poking Sehun's cheek, "pup."

Junmyeon comes close and ruffles his hair, smiling, and says something cheesy about him being a true adult now, and that's it.

Tao doesn't come home that night or the next one, and Sehun's exams slowly come and go. The day of his last one, he picks up Tao's favorite take out and walks over to the park by his work, sitting on the bench and kind of dozing off, sleepy now that at least exam stress is over. From behind him, he can feel someone approaching, slow careful steps. Only after that, Sehun registers the scent, slowly filtering in and waking him up completely. He straightens up on the bench, checking the boxes of food in his lap, and that's when Tao slides to sit next to him.

"You shouldn't be taking naps in empty parks," he mutters. Sehun only thrusts the take out boxes under his nose.

"Brought you lunch," he says. Tao's presence is overwhelming, and he tries to slide a little further away on the bench. He senses the annoyance that washes over Tao, but it's done, and he sighs and tips his head back, stretching his stiff arms and legs.

"Exams over?" Tao asks, opening the boxes and digging in, his fingers clutching his chopsticks too hard.

"Yeah, for now anyway. It was just midterms though," Sehun whines a little. Somehow, he knows Tao is amused. Amused and turned on, and his eyes are on the strip of the skin on Sehun's belly that's exposed as he pulls his hands over his head and arches off the bench, trying to make his back crack and let loose. That probably wasn't the best idea. Sehun wonders when he's become this attuned to Tao's emotions.

"Can you feel my emotions as much as I can feel yours?" he asks, before he can stop himself. Tao drops his chopsticks. When Sehun doesn't look at him, only sits up again, this time pulling his feet up onto the bench so he can curl his arms around his knees, Tao hums. Now Sehun only feels his arousal, the smell of it so thick that Sehun wonders if he could also see it, wonders what color it would be.

"Well, how much can you feel of me?" Tao asks at last, turning on the bench so that he's looking at Sehun.

Sehun exhales. "I don't know," he admits, because he doesn't. It's glimpses of the stronger stuff, he figures, that he tracks.

"I know you're confused," Tao says. "I also know you want me, but you don't want me to claim you," he adds after a moment. "I won't," he breathes out when Sehun stays silent, only biting his lips. "Unless you change your mind."

At least, Sehun figures, Tao didn't get everything right. Only glimpses then.

"You should come sleep at home again. I trust you," Sehun says, non-sequitur. "I also miss you."

Tao lifts his hand, fingers running down the back of Sehun's neck. Sehun flinches then forces himself to stay still. He's trembling, and if Tao wanted to bite into his neck now and claim him here, for everyone to see, he'd let him.

"Let me change your mind," Tao whispers, pulling his fingers away. He sounds breathless, but he's pleading. Sehun wants to drop to his knees and rests his head on Tao's thigh, nuzzle his nose into Tao's stomach. He wonders if Tao can feel that, can smell it on him, now. He gets up and runs away.

 

That evening, Sehun goes for a run, hoping it might bring clarity. He feels like all he ever does these days is trying to clear his head, to sort out his emotions, to separate the cloying want from everything else. Now, on four limbs and closer to the ground, he dodges under the low branches and slides through moss wet with fallen evening dew, feeling the wind between his ears and hearing the forest rustle around him.

When Tao jumps at him from the side and digs his paws into his fur, it shocks him, the fact he didn't hear him and didn't smell him. Only he probably did and thought it was him smelling of Tao or that it was just his mind not being able to let go of the heavy scent. They roll down a steeper hill, and it's more fight than play this time. Sehun's heart rate picks up when Tao's teeth snap at his ear. Tao's growling at him, eyes flashing and the fur on his back spiking up.

 _Why are you alone? Don't be reckless. Stay safe, don't let your guard down_.

They don't have to be speaking for Sehun to understand. Under the hill, Tao lets go off him, pulling away much easier than Sehun could, and they keep on running, fur wet from sweat and dew, Sehun's eyes almost unseeing as he runs only by memory and following the sounds Tao makes ahead of him. When Sehun collapses into a clearing right behind their house and turns, Tao slips away. Clarity is probably not something one can just find between in the tall grass.

That night though, after Sehun showers and settles for the night, Tao does come home. To Sehun, it feels like the whole room buzzes until he too lies down, on the other side of the room from Sehun. Sehun, who can't seem to stop moving, feeling too hot and restless, wanting to move closer to Tao or run away again, just do something. He remembers how he felt earlier that day in the park and definitely does not think about his little revelation that morning when Yixing and Baekhyun kept him wrapped in their safety net and made him face himself. He thinks he's going to crawl out of his own skin, when Baekhyun yips almost angrily, digging nails into his back and pulling him back and closer to where he's lying against Chanyeol's chest.

"You two are so insufferable. You're just lucky everyone likes you, pup," he mutters and hooks an ankle around Sehun's own, keeping a hand on his back. "Sleep," he mutters, and behind him Chanyeol mumbles something. Sehun tries to. He only manages before the dawn.

Three days later, Sehun finds himself in front of the TV, throwing game controls at Tao and booting up their favorite game. Sehun's classes are done for the day and Tao's private student canceled on him, so this is the perfect way to kills some boredom. When Tao gets into it and starts shouting instruction at Sehun, Sehun wants to laugh, only he feels like he should flatten himself on the floor when Tao shouts "duck, duck" and like he should leap up at Tao's "jump, jump damn it, do it now." Still Tao lets him tangle their feet in front of them when Sehun can't help it, wanting to be close, and doesn't make him go get their snacks this times, instead he gets up himself. Sehun only fetches the soda from the kitchen because he's hungry too, not because Tao asks if he could go get it.

When Sehun gets them both killed, a little on purpose because his eyes are itching by now, and he thinks he's had enough, Tao shoves him roughly onto the floor. Sehun hiccups because of the heat that floods him at Tao manhandling him, playfully and laughing. Tao startles and scoops Sehun up, in an instant.

"Are you okay? Did I push you too hard?" he asks, hands already checking for damage, and Sehun's breath hitches, stomach lurching at the want zinging through him. Tao freezes, hands sliding away. "Breathe, pup," he says, because Sehun isn't really doing that, hands fisted in his sweats and head hung low. Tao's voice is rough, and this time Sehun _obeys_. Tao slowly gets up, and Sehun smells the self-restraint on him, the way he fights to control his entire being. "I'm going to make a sandwich," Tao says, and Sehun digs his nails into his thighs.

"Good choice, they're the height of your culinary skills," he says and grins.

Tao rolls his eyes. "I see no reason to be a perfect cook when there are people around me who are much better at it. I have other qualities." There's small smile on his face now, and it is a fond one. The tension slowly seeps out of Tao's shoulders.

Sehun snorts but still watches the strong line of them as Tao leaves. When he follows after him ten minutes later, his stomach a little calmer now, there's a huge sandwich packed with everything Sehun likes already set on the table, and Sehun sinks into the chair and, for a moment, wonders why exactly he's fighting this.

 

It only takes two more nights before Sehun slinks across the floor and ends up with his back pressed against Tao's chest when everyone settles to sleep. Tao stiffens, tension palpable in his muscles and in the air around them, but the omega in Sehun is finally content.

"I miss you," Sehun mutters.

"You're always so reckless, Hun," Tao mutters. Sehun slumps a little when Tao's knee slips between his own. Tao's nose traces Sehun's nape, deep inhales and exhales and hotness against Sehun's skin. Sehun doesn't stop himself from stretching his neck, tilting it a little so Tao can reach more skin as he noses higher into Sehun's hairline. "You're crazy," Tao mutters. Sehun wants to whine. He feels himself being wrapped up in need, and he knows he'll smell like Tao tomorrow. Tao's tongue licks behind his ear, and Sehun presses closer. Sehun feels how much Tao likes this, wants more, wants all of Sehun.

Sehun has wondered, just a little, in the past few days, if maybe Tao doesn't want this just because it's convenient and because Sehun's there. He's been so good at keeping his distance, at giving Sehun space and respecting his boundaries, letting him close when Sehun couldn't help himself, but stepping away when Sehun felt it being too much, too close to being out of control. He questioned if Tao's really wanted this, if Sehun smelled as good to Tao as Tao did to him.

But right now, like this, he gets all his answers, feeling the storm of Tao's emotions, and admiring the way he fights his instincts. Sehun now knows Tao does it for him, has been doing his best to understand Sehun's emotions so that he did all that Sehun wanted. It almost feels like Sehun's the one with the power, only Sehun's insides are twisted and all he wants is for Tao's sharp teeth to bite down, for his tongue to lick over the bite until he tastes Sehun's frantic pulse. Sehun never wants to move away and he's dizzy with it.

"I'm sorry for being stubborn," he mutters. Tao buries his nose in his hair and tightens his arm around Sehun.

"Let's go on a date," he whispers, just as Sehun falls asleep, exhausted and feeling so safe in Tao's arms, even if an unclaimed omega sleeping in the arms of alpha who isn't mated could never be that.

 

Yixing laughs when Sehun tells him about the date, but helps him dose the herbs so Sehun feels as much like _himself_ as possible even if Yixing scrunched his nose at Sehun putting it that way.

"Does it get better?" Sehun asks. "After you mate I mean. I...can't be stretched this thin, always."

Yixing pats his ass consoling. "The less you fight it..." Yixing hums searching for the right words. "Minseok makes everything better," he says at last. He eyes the jeans which Sehun is trying to fit into and laughs. "Not the tightest ones you own, pup. Have a little mercy with Taozi."

Sehun startles. He looks down at his pants and sighs when he realizes he's chosen the ones in which his ass looks the best. He switches for a looser pair and puts on his t-shirt, one he likes because it shows off his collarbones. Yixing only shakes his head a little.

"Have fun," he says in the end, before he leaves.

 

A date with Tao is...awkward because Sehun kind of wants to act like he always does, walking close and bumping his hip with Tao's until Tao growls at him playfully and hooks his arm around Sehun's neck to keep him in check. But Tao looks great and smells even better, and he's smiling almost shyly. He keeps a safe distance between them as they walk, not too much but enough for Sehun to feel like Tao respects his personal space. Even if Sehun doesn't really want him to. Not now, not anymore.

Tao opens doors for him and buys him his favorite bubble tea without complaint. He foots the bill for their dinner and drags Sehun to play mini-golf like they're still fifteen. He watches Sehun's every move, his whole body focused on Sehun's reaction as he fumbles and trips because all of him is attuned to what Sehun might want or not want to the point his usual smoothness and grace disappears.

Sehun wants to curl into him because Tao's making him feel loved and cherished and safe. He's so cute as he tries to shield Sehun from any discomfort and as he blabbers about his kid classes and the latest music he's found and tells Sehun he looks really good, that his hair is nice and his new body wash smells really fresh. It all sounds so innocent, but Sehun preens at the praise and his stomach knots with need for more even as Tao steps a little further away and vibrates with suppressed instincts to push at Sehun's boundaries until he breaks and asks for it. So when Tao catches Sehun looking at him, he drops his eyes like it's him that has been caught, but Sehun feels the joy reverberating through him.

Sehun's probably a shitty date. He analyzes every move and every step, stays quiet for too long, lost in his thoughts, and acts on all his whims, dragging Tao to a convenience store and then around the town without much aim for the entire night. Still Tao's there until the end of it, and when he says to Sehun, as they near their house together, "I want to kiss you," Sehun believes him that it would just be that. A kiss.

"How are you so sure about this?" Sehun asks instead. "We'd be bound for the rest of our lives, and it would hurt if either of us would...leave. Plus, how do you know it's me? I'm...twenty and probably a mess. "

"Pup," Tao interrupts. "You can take your time. I told you I can stay away. I can do this."

Sehun smells the struggle, the want on Tao. "Can you really?" he asks. "Because I feel like I'm about to snap and..." Sehun shuts his mouth, lips pressed together.

Tao reaches out and waits for Sehun to dodge, to flinch away, but Sehun finds it easy not to. Tao wants to touch him, and Sehun's body craves to listen to that want like it's an order by now.

"About all those other things," Tao says, thumb running over Sehun's cheekbone, "I think it's always been you. From the moment you came here. And before you ask, I don't know how much of it is wolf and how much of it is human, but it's all of me. It's you smelling like home and love, and you making my heart feel larger and making me laugh, and you understanding me. I could never separate the two. I think this is where we are the most different. I think all of that is me, and all of it is important."

Sehun leans into Tao's touch, and Tao presses his warm palm against his cheek then moves it down to Sehun's neck, squeezing it gently.

"I have no doubt I'll always want to be here with you. I know I can't promise you we'll never get separated. I know you were raised by someone who hurt a lot being alone. I can only promise you that I will always do everything to keep you close."

Sehun steps forward, his head falling to Tao's shoulder. He takes deep breaths and hopes for so many things, hopes that Tao will make the decision for them, that he will finally push. But Tao's done talking or touching him. He lets Sehun be like this until Sehun gets goosebumps on his skin from the late night wind rising.

"You have to figure this out," Tao says then. "But...it's hard sometimes for me, too," Tao sound regretful, like he doesn't want to be saying this. "I'll always be here for you, but I don't think I can hold you until you make sure you have your answers, at least not every night. I'm sorry."

Tao leaves then, and Sehun sits on the front steps to their house for the longest time, wondering how deep in love with Tao he needs to fall to be brave enough to make his own decisions.

 

Two days later, Sehun's first true heat hits him unexpectedly. There's been instances in the past, but he's always managed to mix his herbs well and to push it down soon enough. Maybe that's why, this time, it barrels into him, knocks the breath out of him and renders him paralyzed. It's the moment Tao steps through the door, light sheen of sweat on his neck and smelling of mud and grass and forest because apparently he goes on runs alone even if he doesn't let Sehun do it. Sehun feels a chunk of hot lead drop to the bottom of his stomach, the hair on the back of his neck standing and his core shaken. The next second, Tao's eyes widen and he's grabbing Sehun's shoulders, spinning him around and pushing him to move towards the stairs.

For one dreadful moment, Sehun is afraid. Tao's nails dig into his arms, feeling sharper than normal, and Sehun can smell the arousal on Tao too, now. He thinks this is it, Tao finally snapping. But then Tao starts murmuring under his nose, and Sehun catches curses and "this pup will be the end of me," and he realizes they're moving towards the attic. The misplaced term of endearment cuts through the haze Sehun's in, and he wants to tell Tao right now, wants to ask him to claim him and take care of him like he always does. Before he can even open his mouth, he finds himself in the room on the top floor, door closed behind him, Tao on the other side of it. He slides down the hard wood, only scared of how much he wants Tao to be here with him now, how Tao's all he can feel and smell around himself as he starts to shake with need.

"Lock the door," Tao says from behind the door. "Yixing's got a spare key. He's going to come check on you later."

Yixing does come, about an hour later. In the meantime, Sehun's pulled his jeans down to his mid-thighs and jerked himself off twice, his hand too dry and frantic, thinking of how much better it would feel if it was Tao's hands, larger and rougher on him. Yixing doesn't even blink at the state of him, only makes him eat and drink, leaving more food and water by the bed along with lube. He flat out tells Sehun he can get him a variation of toys that could make things easier on him if he wanted, and Sehun buries himself in the blankets and shakes his head, embarrassed and completely hard again at the thought of a vibrator up his ass.

It goes on for three days. Sehun flits in and out of the haze of want and need; his dick is too sensitive to be even touched by now, rubbed raw and he's come just from his fingers the last three times, or maybe ten times, he doesn't know anymore. His body aches, and it takes longer like this, his own fingers not able to fuck as deep into him as his body demands, not as fast and hard, and the release builds slower, the desperation deep in his bones. He howls and has too little strength to care about the whole house hearing him by now. It's easier, faster and hotter when he thinks of Tao―Tao's fingers, his cock, his tongue―when he's like this, but it makes him feel guilty because he's been pushing Tao away and even thinking of him now feels like cheating, like he's a hypocrite. He curls in his blankets, exhausted, and sobs because he wants this to end, to not feel this helpless against his own body.

"Shhhh, pup, it's okay. It's nothing," Sehun hears Tao whisper. His muscles relax a bit at the voice in his head, and he's thankful for this particular delusion, Tao's voice in his mind as clear as if he was standing just behind the door. "You just do what you need to. It'll go away soon," Tao's saying, and Sehun feels the heat and arousal stir again.

"Please, I want it to end," he mumbles, rising to his knees again, head pressed into pillows and ass high in the air, as he searches for the lube. He's stretched and loose, and he easily pushes two fingers into himself. He wants to hear Tao's voice again, tries to imagine what Tao would say if he saw him like this. "Please," he mutters again, already trembling. "Don't leave." Part of him knows it's all a trick of his exhausted mind, laced with want for Tao to be right next to him, in him, but he's too tired to stop it now.

"Sehunnie," Tao's voice rasps, and Sehun whines, pushing in another finger, trying to press against his prostate. "You're doing so well. Just a little longer." This Tao sounds almost desperate, voice low and full of care but also desire, and Sehun wants this to be so real, for Tao to praise him and tell him how much he wants him. He moans, his wrist aching as he moves his fingers faster, harder jabs trying to reach deeper.

"That's it, my love, you're almost there," Sehun hears, and he is begging and moaning for Tao. His knees slip on the sheets, and he flattens on the bed, his cock trapped against his tummy. He hisses but moves his hips anyway, between the bed and his fingers.

"Come now, Hun" Tao's voice says, and Sehun's body obeys, shuddering and thrashing. He's crying now, from oversensitivity and from how much better it felt, just imagining Tao encouraging him like this. He feels his cheeks wet from the tears as he lies there, body heavy from exhaustion, but finally, finally the pressure in his underbelly lifts and he knows his heat is over.

 

It's not long before Yixing comes in again, and this time he stays longer, running his hand through Sehun's hair.

"It's ended," he says, rather loudly then, and Sehun flinches. He doesn't expect that Yixing is announcing the fact to someone else, but in the next moment, he smells Tao, right there by his bed, and a wave of nausea hits him. Sehun smells like sweat and dried come and desperation, and he doesn't want Tao to see him now, even if his body automatically wants to turn to him, breathe in more of him, now that the door isn't in between them.

And that's when he realizes, just as his mind clears, just a little, that the voice he heard wasn't an illusion at all, that he has smelled Tao for some time now, not this strong but there, real. He panics, his arms and his entire body locking, and he can't breathe, he can't think, he can only feel himself shuddering and shutting down, and fuck no, this can't be. Tao shouldn't have heard him begging for him, he shouldn't have been there when he was so out of it.

Sehun barely registers Tao sitting on the edge of the bed, one of his hands finding Sehun's back. He rests it there, warm palm against Sehun's damp skin. "Breathe Sehunnie, everything's fine," he says, and he sounds a little breathless but still so soothing. He rubs small circles into Sehun's skin, and Sehun, despite Tao being source of his panic to begin with, starts to calm again. "Breathe in, breathe out," Tao's saying, and Sehun curls up on his side into an even smaller ball and just listens to Tao's voice, does what he's told. He registers Yixing lifting him and giving him some water, but then he's out, falling asleep, and this time, he isn't woken up by insistent heat crawling under his skin.

When he does wake up, it's to clean sheets and clean clothes, and Baekhyun rubbing his ear.

"Wake up pup, you should eat something," he's saying. Sehun groans, but his stomach growls, and so he forces himself to stay awake.

"How long has it been?" he asks, and Baekhyun raises an eyebrow.

"Five days since you locked yourself here," he says. "A day and a half since the heat ended."

Sehun groans. "I need a shower," he mutters, and Baekhyun nods.

"We cleaned you up a bit, but you probably do," he agrees. Sehun drags him along and Baekhyun lets him, washing his back and his hair and humming a song under his breath. "You're such a spoilt brat," he muses, slapping Sehun's ass as they get out of shower. "Why don't you get yourself some nice alpha to spoil you?"

It's mostly playful, and Sehun tries to laugh it off, but he only manages a grimace that makes Baekhyun laugh some more. "So stubborn, these young ones," he says.

"I'm like...two years younger," Sehun deadpans.

Baekhyun shrugs. "I'm glad you've surfaced from your Tao lust," he says, and winks.

Sehun doesn't want to know just how everyone heard him screaming for his alpha. He blanches as he catches himself thinking that. Fuck, fuck, fuck. How did it get this bad?

 

Sehun shaves, eats and then rushes off to school, needing to catch up on classes and assignments. He only gets home late in the evening that night, people flitting in and out of the house on a warm night. He walks inside, exhausted still, and walks in on Tao playing a video game in the empty living room. Sehun didn't have much time to think about what it would be like, seeing him again. Now, a pang of hurt flits through Sehun because he hasn't talked to Tao much since their date and he's a little starved for him, for his eyes on Sehun, for his kind words and his silly laugh and for his hands around Sehun's shoulders. He smells so good, so right, and Sehun clambers onto the ground, right next to Tao, head falling into his lap despite himself.

"Claim me," he says, and it shocks him, how that just came out, despite him not wanting to even admit it to himself just few days ago. Tao drops the game controller and growls. The next moment, Sehun is flat on the ground, his hands pinned over his head, Tao straddling him. Sehun thought Tao would want to do this some place more private, that he'd be as gentle about this as he's been about anything else when Sehun needed the reassurance, but he doesn't care anymore. He stretches his neck, turning his head to the side so he doesn't see the yellow gleam in Tao's eyes and his neck is more on display. He hears someone shuffling out of the room, quickly, but all he can focus on is the way he feels Tao's pulse clash with his own where Tao holds his wrists.

"Why?" Tao asks, voice rough and demanding. "Why now?"

Sehun doesn't know how to explain what changed. Maybe nothing did, really, he's just too tired right now to pretend he doesn't want this, that he hasn't been wanting this for so long now. And he's stopped caring which part of him it is that he's listening to.

"Because I don't want to go through another heat like that alone," he says. Because I know you'll take care of me. Because I want only you to be there for me, because I think I want to risk the pain of separation and loneliness later for those moments we'd be together, because I want you to hold me every night. Because I love you. All that he doesn't say, too focused on the craving for Tao's teeth in his throat, wanting that moment he'll feel they belong together. He wants to turn his head and kiss Tao, but he can wait until Tao's claimed him; it's going to be any second now.

Instead, Tao lets go off his wrists and scrambles back and off Sehun like he's been burned.

"That's not," he starts to say. "Fuck, out of all the reasons, you pick that one," he practically growls it out, and Sehun feels the anger rolling off him in waves. Tao's upset, and he's upset with Sehun. And then Tao stands up and turns away. The rejection hits hard, and Sehun starts shaking, tears welling up too fast for him to stop them. Tao walks out of the house, and Sehun's heart feels like it just broke into millions of pieces, sharp shards dropping from his chest into his stomach, cutting through his flesh and prickling too much. Tao doesn't want him after all. Sehun sits up, arms around his knees and nails digging into bare skin on his forearms, and he rocks back and forth, choking on tears and sobs, nothing making sense anymore.

 

When Sehun manages to move, people are flitting in and out of the common room, getting ready for sleep, and there's a strange heavy atmosphere in the room, tension and confusion drifting in the air. Sehun trudges up the stairs to one of the rooms, unable to face anyone. It hits him how the occupants of this house, the people closest to him and Tao, are affected too, and his stomach hurts even more. It's physically painful, the fresh memory of the way Tao pulled away from Sehun, putting distance between them that Sehun didn't want anymore. The rejection makes Sehun's stomach turn and twist, and it's not just his wolf that revolts against it.

He curls on top of the blankets and tries, tries so hard to understand. But Sehun never once thought that Tao wouldn't want him. He's been thinking of what he, himself, wants and doesn't want, and how _he_ imagines his future and how _he_ wants to make his own decisions and doesn't want his choices to be pushed onto him by people around him, their expectations or his basic instincts, but he's never...Sehun always expected Tao to accept anything Sehun offers without complaint, to want whatever Sehun is willing to give. He never once doubted Tao would want whatever Sehun did, would want Sehun. It cuts through him, deep and jagged at the edges, how much Tao's taught him to expect that, always caring for him, always putting him first so that Sehun put himself above anything Tao might want and need, that even in this he expected them to be as Sehun wishes.

Sehun spends the next few days trying some more to catch up with school even though all he can think of is how much he needs to fix things with Tao. He swears he can hear Chanyeol growling at him when he passes him and Baekhyun in the kitchen one evening. He doesn't talk much to anyone, feeling the burden of their eyes on him as Tao, once again, avoids him and the house as much as he can. He shouldn't though, this is his home just as much as it is Sehun's, and it's Sehun who seems to make all the wrong steps, who seems to cause all the trouble.

Yixing pinches his side and tells him to get himself together when he finds him going upstairs to sleep later on, so maybe Sehun's just projecting his own guilt onto all the people he's interacting with. He misses Tao. He feels like lately, that's all he does. Every time he tries to make things better between them, to come close, it ends with the space between them widening, and it may be his wolf that made all his body tremble at Tao's rejection, but it's his heart that makes all of his chest ache so much that he can't take a proper breath.

 

Tao has told him a million times to not to go for a run alone, and it's with this thought Sehun turns four days later, on a Saturday night, selfishly hoping that Tao will come and find him when he realizes he's disobeyed yet again. It's late, and his fur gets wet from dew right away. More than running, Sehun's aimlessly wandering on the edge of his favorite clearing, hoping to trace Tao's scent, or to be discovered. It doesn't take long. Sehun smells Tao, long before he hears him, the fur on his neck standing, ears down. When Tao pounces from behind the thick patch of bushes, Sehun shifts, hands burying into Tao's fur but soon digging into naked flesh as Tao turns too, and they roll naked in the cold high grass.

"What the fuck, Sehun," Tao sounds angry, but Sehun doesn't know if it's because of the unexpected shift, of the late night run, or because they're naked and Sehun's nails dig into Tao's arms as Tao's weight pins him down.

"Don't run away," Sehun says quickly, and Tao struggles to sit up, still straddling Sehun.

"What were you thinking? I could've hurt you," he says, looking down at Sehun, and Sehun's skin is on fire, a flush rising from his neck to his cheeks and spreading across his chest. Yeah, he didn't really think this through.

"My clothes are just behind that tree," Sehun says, nodding in the right direction, but his hands slide down to Tao's hips to hold him in place. Tao getting up could mean he won't come back, and Sehun doesn't think he could take it right now, Tao rejecting him one more time. "That can wait," he adds, and his voice comes out all wrong. He fights not to bare his neck. It's not like Tao's stopped smelling of everything Sehun could ever want since the last time they saw each other.

Tao tilts his head to the side, and Sehun senses the hesitation on him, soon replaced by surrender. It's back, that feeling that Sehun is the one pulling the ropes here, just for a moment, but it doesn't last. Sehun remembers too well how Tao can pull the rug from underneath him with just one step back. And Tao could step back; he's stronger than Sehun, his thick thighs on each side of Sehun's hips, his stomach, taut and defined, and his arms with muscles straining as he rests his fist on Sehun's chest, a loud reminder of that. Tao's still here because he wishes to be, not because Sehun's holding him in his grip.

"I need to fix this," Sehun says, when Tao stays quiet. It's unsure, and he's afraid he'll do more damage than good again. "Tell me how to fix this."

Tao laughs a little, but it's not a pretty sound, more harsh and painful. "I can't tell you what to do Sehun. _You_ don't want me to tell you what to do." There's not much light around them, mostly just stars and the moon and fireflies, but Sehun sees Tao's eyes gleam.

"I thought―" Sehun really doesn't know anything right now but the fact that Tao can't leave. Unless...unless he wants to, and then Sehun should let him. He drops his hands from Tao's hips. "What do _you_ want? I'll do what you want," he says. He doesn't mind anymore. If it's Tao, it's okay.

"I thought I made myself clear," Tao says, and he still sounds a bit upset, but mostly he sounds so resigned. Sehun can't help but run his hand up Tao's thigh as he's done a million times before when he wanted to make Tao feel better. Tao follows his hand with his eyes and sighs. "But you had to go and chose the one reason I...Sehun, there's plenty of people out there who'll do just fine taking care of you when you need it. You just had to go and tell me anyone would do as long as..." Tao trails off, his hand pushing Sehun's away, but he's not moving otherwise. Sehun's back is cold against the damp soil, but his heart is pounding too loud and everywhere his skin is touching Tao's, he's burning.

"You were crying," Tao says next, his voice full of regret. "I couldn't take it, so I went up there and then you were asking me to stay. And I know I shouldn't have and that it wasn't you, not really. I wish I hadn't done it because you sounded like you really wanted me. But then I'm not the only one who could take care of you, and you'd made it clear, before, how you disliked that side of you dominating. The last thing I wanted to hear was you asking me to claim you for you to have someone to fuck your through your heat." Tao sound hurt now.

Sehun flinches. That's not how he's meant it at all. Tao's gotten it all wrong.

"No," he says, quickly. He reaches for Tao's balled up fists, trying to open them so he can slip his fingers through Tao's, but Tao's grip is too strong. Sehun settles for clutching onto his wrists, thumbs pressing on the insides, pushing against Tao's frantic pulse point.

"Okay, yes I meant what I said, but I...when you were behind that door, I really wanted you to just open it. But only because it was you. I want _you_ to take care of me, not anyone else." Sehun is frantic by now. "It was your voice I wanted to hear, and no one else would've been the same. And it is because you're an alpha and I'm omega and, god, you smell so good, so right, but then it's not just that." He squeezes Tao's wrists tighter and thumps his legs against the ground uselessly as he tries to put his thoughts into words.

"It's because I trust you," he says at last. "Because I know you'd always be there for me, that you'd be good to me. It's because I know you'd be there to laugh with me and play with me and nudge me in the mornings when I can't get up and soothe me to sleep when I have too much energy and any time in between." Sehun figures he should just say it how it is and hopes it will be enough. Tao's breathing is as ragged as his own, and it's like they're both waiting for something that could only happen now. "I want you to take care of me because I can't imagine anyone coming even close to making me feel as safe as you do, even now," Sehun tries to take another breath. "And Tao, I love you. I'm just...I _was_ scared of being with you for all the wrong reasons, but I miss you, all the time. I know now that it's all of me that wants this. Please, it just...took me time to realize, and I'm slow and I've been selfish because you spoil me, and I didn't stop to think―"  
Tao's staring at him, and this is far more than Sehun's ever wanted to talk about his feelings. He can't say more. Tao's pulse underneath his thumbs is even faster now, but Sehun's own is so frantic he's surprised his temples haven't burst yet. All of his desire is simmering low in his stomach, and despite everything being wrong, he feels arousal too, his cock, hard, pressed against Tao's ass, adding embarrassment to the hoard of emotions raking through him. Tao's hands finally uncurl, big palms spreading on Sehun's chest. The left one slides up to cup the back of Sehun's neck as the right one stays on Sehun's chest, pressing where Sehun's heart is about to beat out of his chest.

"Ask me again," Tao whispers, fingers squeezing around Sehun's neck possessively. Sehun shudders. He forces himself to look straight at Tao and licks his lips because they're too dry and words stick to them heavily.

"I want you to be my mate," he says, shaky and too quiet, but he knows Tao hears him, his thighs squeezing tighter where Sehun is trapped between them. "Please," he adds, and Tao dips his head.

Sehun whines high in his throat, the side of it stretched out for Tao's taking. Tao nuzzles it, startling Sehun. He kisses behind Sehun's ears, and Sehun's trembling with how much he wants. Then Tao nips at Sehun's jaw, his left hand coming up too, to press into Sehun's cheek until Sehun moves so that he's fully facing Tao again.

"You said you love me," Tao says.

Instead of being bitten, Sehun is kissed. Tao's lips are broken with wind just like his own. He takes Sehun's bottom one between his teeth and pulls, and Sehun opens his mouth in a low groan. Tao growls as if in reply, and then his tongue dips into Sehun's mouth, swipes behind his teeth. Sehun keens and wraps his arms around Tao's neck. They keep kissing, and Sehun can't wrap his head around it, how good it feels, his body covered with Tao's, his lips stinging from the scratch of Tao's stubble, his nose in the crook of Tao's neck, breathing him in as Sehun gets to suck a bruise into Tao's collarbone. Suddenly, Tao's rolling them, and he hisses when his own back hits the ground, Sehun pressing close on top of him.

"Fuck," Tao swears, as Sehun goes to mouth at his jaw despite the sting, and Sehun laughs. Tao's hands are around Sehun's waist and he wraps his legs around Sehun's middle too, for a moment, while Sehun can't stop giggling.

"You were supposed to claim me, not kiss me," he whines, and Tao smacks his ass.

"I wanted to kiss you first," Tao mumbles, and then, "Get off me."

Sehun only presses closer, making Tao moan. "No," he sighs, lifting a bit and curling forward so he can run his hand down Tao's stomach and suck on his nipple.

Tao growls, low in his throat and commanding, and the hair on the back of Sehun's neck stands. Tao realizes Sehun's frozen a bit, and his hands move to rub and down his arms.

"Shhh," he mutters, and Sehun flashes to the last of his heat, to the way just Tao's voice made him feel. He wonders if Tao had gotten off then, too. He knows he wants to, now.

"Please," Sehun mutters, his mouth searching for Tao's again, and Tao's legs fall away, knees bent and heels digging into the ground, as he grinds against Sehun. "Yes," Sehun hisses, and suddenly Tao's hand is between them, gripping both of their cocks, and pulling.

"So demanding, this pup," Tao murmurs against Sehun's lips, and Sehun arches into his touch.

"Yours, your pup," he whispers, and Tao's hand speeds up, as the other finds its way into Sehun's hair, pulling so that their lips aren't touching anymore. Sehun's back stays arched sharply like this, rendering him rigid in Tao's hold, their hips pressed close as Tao swipes his thumb over the head of Sehun's cock.

"Again. Say it again," Tao asks, and it is an order this time. His hand squeezes tightly. "Want to hear you."

"Yours," Sehun sobs out, then practically howls, because this feels better than jerking off has ever felt. "Tao," he gets out, and Tao scrapes his teeth over Sehun's neck.

"Come," he whispers, and Sehun does. Tao still hasn't claimed him, instead he thrusts up, into his own fist, the crown of his cock dragging against Sehun's, and comes too, muffling his moans into Sehun's shoulder as he keeps holding him in place. He only lets go when they're both too sensitive for Tao to keep stroking them and Sehun's whining, high and scratchy. Sehun slumps down into Tao, and Tao runs his fingers through his hair until he catches his breath. They stay still for only a little longer before Tao shifts and curses again.

"We'll both get sick," he says, and Sehun honestly doesn't care as long as Tao's there with him under the blankets waiting with him for the fever to break. He lets Tao push him up into his knees though and watches him wobble a little as he searches for Sehun's clothes and his own. He cleans both of them with his undershirt, balling it up and only putting his own hoodie on, and his jeans, then helping Sehun dress too. "Let's go," Tao says, holding out a hand to Sehun, and getting him to stand up properly.

Sehun takes it, quickly lacing their fingers together and leaning into Tao's shoulder, but then he stops walking.

"Wait," he says, confused. "You still didn't..." He smells like Tao, and he knows he will for days, even if he takes a shower and washes his clothes, but he knows Tao still didn't claim him. Sehun so desperately wants him to, so that the storm inside him calms a little more. He presses against his stomach and his vision blurs a little. It's there again, the want to drop to his knees and nuzzle into Tao's belly in a show of submission.

Tao arches an eyebrow. "I've waited for two years for you to want this. I can wait a little longer. Let's date a little first, see if you don't change your mind," he says, and it's just a little playful and just a little unsure.

Sehun's not going to change his mind. But maybe Tao might. His heart clenches. But then Tao's there, kissing behind his ear again. "I don't think I'll last too long, but let me do this right," he says. Sehun doesn't think he could say no even if he wanted to.

 

Apparently, doing it right means another date, this time a movie and a rather fancy dinner, and long runs in the early summer night, Sehun swooping through the forest with Tao on his side and the two of them play fighting. It means Tao cleaning Sehun up from his ears to his paws and then lying with him on dried leaves, his nose in the crook of Sehun's neck. It means Tao meeting him for lunch between Sehun's classes and making him laugh with his silly antics and Tao visiting him in the library the one night Sehun has to stay behind, slipping under the table in the far corner of it and blowing Sehun while he slides down his chair, hiding behind a propped up book and biting his fist to keep quiet.

It means Tao bringing Sehun a glass of cold water before sleep, leaving a short kiss on his nose, but sleeping with a fort of blankets between them, only their pinkies hooked together. It means Tao kissing the breath out of Sehun, marking his neck with bruises so big that people stare at Sehun, but never really biting deep enough. It means Sehun falling more and more in love with Tao, even if he thought it wasn't possible, preening at Tao calling him his boyfriend and squeezing his hand tighter in his when they walk down the street and Tao's so warm and safe next to him as he rumbles about being trampled on by his favorite kid class yet again.

Sehun suspects that doing it right also means, just a little, giving Sehun a taste of his own medicine because Sehun wants nothing more than to be Tao's, and Tao keeps him on the edge with his playful nips and deep kisses, and every time he pulls at Sehun's hair, Sehun's knees go weak.

Chanyeol smirks at him, when Sehun whines about it to Yixing and Baekhyun as they all watch some cute anime on TV on Saturday, a week later.

"You should suffer, honestly," he says, and Baekhyun kicks at him over Sehun.

"Shut up, Chanyeol," he says. "What would you know about it, anyway."

"I know that the only reason I didn't beat Sehun up was because Tao specifically asked me not to," he says. "Or well he said not to pressure him, but if you think it was fun watching Tao practically crawl out of his skin because of him at times―" Chanyeol doesn't get to finish, Baekhyun jumping over Sehun and attempting to smother him with a pillow, but it's not like Sehun doesn't get it, how much Tao's done to accommodate him until now, possibly for years now. He gets up and goes to look for Tao, who had disappeared three episodes into the series.

 

Sehun finds Tao deep in the forest, on their favorite clearing, fussing with a blanket, small lanterns with candles in them spread around on the tree trunks and hanging off a few branches. There's a jar full of fireflies on the blanket along with a basket and sandwiches and two bottles of beer, and when Tao senses Sehun on the other side of the clearing from him, he smiles and points to the jar.

"Best source of light without fire hazards," he says, and grabs one more lantern, walking towards Sehun and hanging it above his head. Sehun's so smitten, and the desire boils in his blood. He doesn't fight the urge to drop to his knees now. Maybe like this, Tao will finally, finally do what they both need. Because he knows Tao needs this too, he can smell it, feel it, taste it, and he rubs his nose on his underbelly, taking the light shirt Tao's wearing with the movement, and kissing the skin he reveals.

"Fuck," Tao swears, looking down at him with wide eyes, and his hand comes down to pull at Sehun's hair, tipping his head back. Sehun groans, but goes willingly. Only instead of Tao leaning down, Sehun's pulled up, and he feels bile rising in him at not getting what he craves once more. But then Tao's kissing him, sucking on his tongue right away, and the feeling is pushed away in favor of the heat pooling in the pit of his stomach as Tao spins him and pushes his back against the tree. They kiss until Sehun's jaw aches, his lips bitten and stinging yet again, and then Tao pulls away, as if he used the kissing to calm down.

"You're always so reckless," he mumbles into Sehun's hair, and Sehun sighs, resolved to waiting some more because he promised himself to be patient, to give Tao all the time he wants the same way Tao granted him his. Even if he keeps failing at being so. He just hopes it won't be two years before Tao has had enough of this courting phase because it's becoming torture. Tao grabs his hand and pulls him towards the blanket.

"I think you're the cheesiest alpha on the planet," Sehun says as he's pushed to sit down.

Tao smirks at him. "Well, then I guess we're meant to be because we both know it's you who's written sappy love letters to every single occupant of our house," he says. "Only the one for me got lost somewhere."

Sehun did write those when he was barely eighteen and had just woken up from that nightmare about being alone yet again. Only he couldn't put it into the words then, how much he was grateful for Tao, so he only made him help distribute the letters to others and then cuddled up to him on the sofa in thanks.

"And I remember you being all teary eyed when you saw Junmyeon reading his and crying. He made such an ugly face, but you didn't even tease him. So you really should stop making this into a competition."

Tao shrugs and hands Sehun a sandwich. "Eat your food, you sap," he says, and Sehun does.

"So, what is this?" he asks, with his mouth full, and Tao pushes it closed.

"Ah, it's just another thing on my list," he say, finishing his own food and falling back onto the blanket. "Stargazing, I guess. We could catch more fireflies if you wanted to."

Sehun eyes one more sandwich, but decides against it, dropping to his elbows and craning his neck up. He feels Tao's eyes on him, watching his Adam's apple bob as he swallows.

"Nah, let them fly around," Sehun says. "The stars are pretty tonight." Then he backtracks through Tao's words. "Wait, what list?"

Tao sighs, rolling on his side, openly watching Sehun now. Sehun keeps his eyes on the dark skies. "Well, I wanted to ask you out for some time now, but I didn't want to freak you out and thought it'd be better to wait until you..." Tao trails off, and Sehun has to turn to him, poking his ribs because he wants to hear this. "Anyway, I kept on thinking of all the things that I'd want to do with you, like dates and stuff, things you might like and that might make you, well, fall in love with me, I guess." Tao runs his hand over Sehun's cheeks as Sehun now stares at him, head pillowed on one of his arms, their knees touching. "So yeah anyway, I wrote it all down, but things happened, and so I only got to it now."

Sehun wants to ask if the library blowjob was on the list, but instead he bites his lip, chewing on it a little, and Tao's eyes drops to his mouth, watching Sehun's lip pop back from his mouth. Sehun scoots closer, slipping one of his thighs between Tao's own.

"So what else is on the list?" he asks, and Tao grabs the front of his t-shirt to pull him even closer.

"The beers are going to get all warm and disgusting," he says. Sehun lets himself be dragged until his head is tucked under Tao's chin. He takes a deep breath, senses overwhelmed with want and love, and he doesn't know who's emotions he's drowning in.

"I already love you though," he says in the end, thoughts too choppy for segues that make sense. "You smell so good, so fucking good." Sehun's lips brush Tao's skin, and Tao shivers, the hand in Sehun's shirt twisting, knuckles brushing Sehun's stomach through the fabric of his t-shirt.

"So you've said," Tao mutters, and then he's pushing Sehun's chin up to kiss him. Sehun wants to protest again, make Tao say it back, but once again he's sidetracked by a hot tongue sliding against his, by the hardness he feels against his hip when Tao wraps an arm around his waist to press them closer. "Want you so much," Tao's saying against Sehun's jaw, licking and sucking at the soft skin under his chin, and Sehun rolls onto his back, taking Tao with him. He's the one that reaches down resolutely, opening Tao's jeans, and pushing it along with Tao's boxers to his knees, then using his feet to roll them down the rest of the way. Tao kicks them off along with his shoes and laughs, breathless, quickly stripping Sehun too, jeans, underwear and his t-shirt off him in a blink. Sehun fumbles with the buttons on Tao's shirt then pushes it up his body in frustration. Tao pulls it over his head and chuckles. Sehun pulls him back down, wrapping his legs around Tao, heels hooking behind his ass, like he's wanted to ever since Tao had him pushed against that tree bark earlier.

"Feels good," he mutters when Tao's as close as he can get, their hips aligned, cocks brushing as Tao rolls his hips and Sehun does his best to meet him. Tao's hands are all over him, playing with his nipples then dragging down his ribs. He cups Sehun's ass next, and Sehun's breath hitches. "Want you too," he mutters because Tao's pulled back a little, question in his eyes. "Want you in me," he clarifies, and he feels the tremor running through Tao before he easily gets loose of Sehun's grip and reaches over into the basket that must have held the food on the way here. He pulls out a tube of lube and Sehun bursts into laughter.

"I guess this was on the list, too," he says, breathless, feeling himself blushing when Tao looks at him, eyes dark and lips already swollen from all the kissing. Sehun has left a mark of his own on Tao's collarbone, two days ago, and it stands out, even in the flicking low light, a shadow against the smooth skin. He wants to make it darker, his own claim on _his_ Tao.

"No, not on this one," Tao says, and Sehun's spine curls with pleasure at his soft voice laced with lust. He rolls onto his stomach on his own, pulling his knees under himself, propping himself up on his elbows, and Tao growls again. Sehun's knees spread further, shifting against the blanket, and then Tao's right behind him, one possessive hand on Sehun's hip, another rubbing circles into the small of his back. "You're so fucking perfect," Tao mutters, squeezing Sehun's ass cheek, and then his hands disappear for a moment, leaving Sehun feeling oddly cold. He hears a click of a cap, and then there are slick fingers rubbing his wrinkled rim. Sehun moans, muffling the sound into his forearm, and Tao's free hand shoots into Sehun's hair, pulling until Sehun is arched again, back dipping and ass jutting higher.

"I will hear you," Tao says, low and commanding, and pushes one of his fingers inside. Sehun keens, all the air leaving him as the finger pushes deeper, and then Tao crooks it. With nothing to muffle it, Sehun's next moan is loud and the whole forest must know what's going on. Sehun's ears burn, and his cock twitches, hanging heavy and hard between his legs. Tao's slowly pushing the finger in and out, telling Sehun how good he is, and Sehun is going to go crazy soon. Tao keeps one hand in his hair, hovering over him, and he kisses the top of Sehun's spine before pushing another finger in. He's slow and thorough, the pads of his fingers rough against Sehun's smooth walls, and Sehun is shaking like a leaf now. Tao's fingers speed up, reach deeper, and Sehun rocks on his knees, thighs burning from holding still for so long. "That's it," Tao praises, and crooks his fingers again, pressing right against Sehun's prostate.

"Yes, there, please," Sehun tries to say, his voice hoarse and words tripping over his tongue. Tao presses against the place he's found, again and again, holding Sehun where he wants him, and his lips drag against Sehun's ribs now. Sehun's knees shift again, all of his body prickling with tension, on the edge. Tao's fingers push into him yet again, while teeth scrape against his back. Sehun comes, untouched, with a loud growl, and he feels Tao smirking into his skin, his hand never stilling, pushing in and out until Sehun drops down onto his belly, legs burning and his arms like jelly.

"So hot for me," Tao says smugly, his fingers stilling but not pulling out, hooked under the rim. He lets go of Sehun's hair though, fingers running down his spine and then grabbing Sehun's hip, making him lie on his side. Tao moves behind him, bending Sehun's upper leg and pushing his own thigh between Sehun's, moving Sehun like a ragged doll and finally pulling his fingers out of him for a moment. Sehun tries to catch his breath, but then they return, and there's three of them and more lube, slick and cold. Tao peppers Sehun's neck and cheek with kisses, until Sehun twists enough so that he can lick into Tao's mouth. Tao's fingers are slower and gentler now, smooth slide in and out, and he spreads them a little at times.

"You're not going to break me," Sehun murmurs, feeling the heat of Tao's cock against his back, and Tao chuckles a little into the kiss.

"I bet I could," he whispers, and Sehun's blood runs hot, his cock slowly filling again.

"Show me," he mutters, pushing back, and Tao bites at his earlobe.

"Yeah," he mutters, and pulls his fingers away. Sehun whines, and Tao raises up a little and kisses him properly, deep and still a little desperate, his tongue hot and demanding. Sehun tries to push his ass back again and slippery fingers grip his hip, then slide down his thigh and under his knees, hitching his leg higher against Sehun's stomach. Tao's cock drags against Sehun's crack, slick and so thick, and Sehun whines yet again.

"Just. Fuck me," he mutters, and Tao finally, finally pushes in. It's much more than his fingers, and the stretch burns a little. But it's good, so good, and Sehun bites his lip until he remembers Tao wants to hear him, then he lets out a low moan. His throat feels raw by now, and he's so full, trembling in Tao's hold. "Move," he says, feeling the impatience in Tao's grip, and Tao does, pulling back and then pushing in. It's slow, and Sehun feels every inch of him, the crown almost slipping out before Tao snaps his hips again. He can't go too fast like this, but it's still enough to make Sehun's cock twitch and harden, and his pulse to get frantic. He's moaning and asking for more, and Tao's grip gets tighter. He pulls Sehun back into him with every push of his hips now, Tao's mouth latched against the back of Sehun's neck. Sehun wants more and more of it.

"Let me ride you," he manages to get out, between groans, and Tao moans the loudest so far, one more snap of his hips before he pulls out completely, and rolls onto his back. Sehun is scrambling onto his knees and over him, his entire body shaking. He straddles Tao, and Tao holds his cock for him to sink down on. It's a fast drop, and when Sehun's seated like this, he realizes that Tao's knot has started to grow. And oh, he almost forgot about that. He arches back, Tao's hands running from his neck and over his stomach, splaying there. Sehun's hands grip Tao's thighs, and Tao bends his knees just a little, giving him a better angle. Sehun rolls his hips once before lifting up and falling down, setting a pace much faster than before. Tao's nails scratch red lines around his belly button.

"You feel so good," he's saying and, "just like this, you're so hot." And Sehun tries harder. Tao starts to push his hips back to meet him, and now his knot drags against Sehun's rim, more and more, growing. Soon Sehun will not be able to move up and off it, and that makes him drop down faster. Tao's more growling than moaning, and Sehun's gone almost mute, all his sounds stuck in his throat. Wind is cold against his sweaty chest, but his body is running too hot, as suddenly, Tao's fingers grip his hips, pushing him down. Sehun realizes this is it, locking around Tao's knot.

"Come here," Tao orders, and Sehun sits up better, Tao's cock pushing a bit deeper, constant pressure against Sehun's prostate. He curls forward, and Tao reaches for him, one hand running through his hair as he kisses him. It's him now, who's rolling his hips, carefully, his cock pulsing hot as Sehun squeezes around him.

"Just a little longer," Tao says, and Sehun bites into his lip because he's stretched too wide, his vision blurring as he feels himself on the edge of another orgasm. Tao moves his head so that his lips are aligned with Sehun's ear, nipping at his earlobe and then moaning. "You're gonna come just from my cock," he whispers, another smooth roll of his hips, and Sehun's eyes are wet with tears. "Come on, Hun, you can do it." Sehun attempts a roll of his own, and his spine is about to crumble like a game of dominos on him. He holds onto Tao's arms, nails digging in, and Tao's own hands are on his ass, helping them both move. "Yes," he says again. "Fuck so hot, all mine," Tao's blabbering, and that's it. Sehun's coming, hot stripes of white against his and Tao's stomachs and he squeezes around Tao's cock, tighter. Tao growls again, rendering Sehun motionless, and comes too, throbbing hot.

Sehun's sobbing, and Tao's licking his cheek, nudging him into a breathless kiss, more fluttering licks against Sehun's lips than anything else. Sehun's body is locked like this, his thighs squeezing around Tao's narrow hips and his nails leaving red half-moons in Tao's arms.

"Breathe," Tao finally says, completely breathless himself, and Sehun's so proud it's him who made him sound so wrecked. "Inhale, exhale," Tao is saying, and Sehun tries, feeling like he's emerging from some hot stream with water too thick and too scalding against skin. "Yes," Tao says and presses at the small of Sehun's back when Sehun fidgets a little. "Stay still," he murmurs, and Sehun is all too aware of Tao's knot now, still too big in him. He blushes, down to the tip of his ears, and Tao laughs. "Oh god, you're so cute. Just minutes ago you were begging for me to fuck you faster, and now you're all flustered."

"Don't call me a pup," Sehun interrupts him before Tao can do just that, his broken voice making the sentence almost incomprehensible. "Not like this," he adds in a whisper. Tao runs a hand through his hair.

"Okay," he says and then, "Sehunnie," he whispers into Sehun's hair. Sehun shivers above him, from the affection in his voice and the way the cold wind now raises goosebumps on his damp skin. "Hold on tight," Tao says, and rolls them around, wrapping them into the blanket under them like a burrito. "Better?" he asks.

Sehun wrinkles his nose. "Gross," he mutters. "There was come on it," he says, but thinks better of wriggling because Tao's knot moving in him makes his stomach tighten just a bit.

Tao laughs loudly now, once again beneath Sehun, his face relaxed, hair mused and neck littered with Sehun's love bites, looking absolutely gorgeous and only for Sehun to see. "I love you, Sehunnie," he says, half sighs it, and Sehun's heart stops for a moment. He presses his forehead against Tao's and tries not to smile too widely. Tao leaves small kisses on his face until Sehun has no other choice but to squirm, but when he does, Tao holds his hips and slides out. It still makes Sehun moan, and Tao's eyes flash. He keeps them twined in the blanket and kisses Sehun properly. Sehun's limbs feel like they're made of lead, and he thinks he could stay like this forever, wrapped in the sticky blanket and in Tao's embrace.

He hums contently as Tao's nose brushes against the vein on his neck. Tao's teeth scrape playfully against the crook of his neck, and Sehun is so relaxed he almost doesn't feel the disappointment because it's still just that, playful. Only Tao doesn't let go, and Sehun takes a sharp breath just as Tao's teeth, suddenly sharper, sink deeper. He lets out a choked off sound, and Tao hums against his skin, keeping his teeth in the bite and his nails digging into Sehun's hips to keep his still. It stings, but Sehun's body thrums with excitement. He feels Tao's power wrapping around him like a blanket, and he sinks his hand into Tao's hair, keeping him in place a little longer. When Tao finally lifts, Sehun's shivering, and the wound hurts, but he feels better than ever.

"Sehunnie, you can't change your mind anymore," Tao mutters, and then leans down again, licking the wound clean. Sehun feels the sharp small wounds closing, but he knows he'll always see and feel traces of it.

"I wasn't planning to," he tries to say, even if he thinks Tao knows, and that's why he's finally claimed him. It comes out as mostly squeak, and Tao laughs into his skin. Sehun glares. Tao holds him closer.

 

They spend the night in the forest. This place has always been just theirs, too far away and cut off by thick bushes for people to wander to most of the year. They eventually dress and drink the stale beers and eat more food hidden in the basket. Tao puts out all the lights, and Sehun makes him let the fireflies go too, sinking them into the darkness, only the stars blinking down at them. Sehun feels warm and safe and absolutely calm. Tao's and his scent mix now, and Tao's always going to smell like the best treat out there, but Sehun's stomach welcomes it in his personal space now, and he can taste all of Tao's emotions on the back of his tongue, like a whole new set of flavors, strong and clear and for him to savor. Tao smiles at him, and Sehun doesn't want to ever let go of his hand.

When they get back, Chanyeol does playfully punch Sehun into the stomach, as some sort of congratulations it seems, and his eyes widen even more, comically so, when Tao growls at him anyway.

"Oh fuck, he's going to be even more protective now," he says to Sehun, eyebrows furrowed, and Bakehyun pulls at his ear.

"Stop whining, you've been drilling my ears about them taking too long for months now."

Tao turns a bit red next to him, and Sehun feels his embarrassment so acutely his own ears turn red. Oh, this will take some getting used to.

"I'm sorry I was so dense," he says, turning to Tao. Tao shakes his head.

"It's not...I'm just glad that we ended up on the same page, after all," he says, and Sehun wants to kiss him so bad. Now he can, any time, so he does. He feels Tao's joy all the way in his bones.

That night, there's no more blanket forts as they settle to sleep. Tao licks at Sehun's still fresh bite, and then hums soft nonsense melodies into his ears until Sehun falls asleep, Tao spooning him, and his happiness seeping into Sehun's skin, mixing with his own.

end

**a/n** :I'm still not sure why this happened. I have no clue what i'm doing with all this a/b/o premise and somehow it became everyone is gay and there are no girls fic, mostly because when I thought of people living in the house, I thought of it just being exo. Thanks to my beta. If you spot mistakes, point them out, I feel I've read this so many times I couldn't see an elephant, even if there was a big one drawn right in the middle of the fic. <3  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Home Alone** , Zitao/Sehun, NC-17, 3 213 words  
> \- _au, abo, rimming, knotting, pwp_   
>  \- Sehun has thought their bond would be settled by now. Instead, he gets are inconvenient bouts of arousal and constant need.  
> \- a follow up to [Come Home](http://pillow-fright.dreamwidth.org/1876.html), but can be read as a stand alon

Sehun sucks in a deep breath and furtively wills his ears not to turn red. He takes a big bite of his meal, almost choking because he can't make himself chew it properly. He ignores Baekhyun's instant chatter and everything else really, only concentrating on food and basic functions. Stay still, don't move until everyone's done with food, don't roll off the chair and towards Tao, don't moan, don't start begging. He chokes on another piece of vegetable and croaks pitifully. To know when Tao is aroused and wants him is the worst. To feel it in his gut, his blood boiling and his cock getting swollen easily, is horrible. To have this happen while they have dinner and Tao watches him from across the table silently, too far away for Sehun to just slump against his side and let the closeness calm his instinct to barrel into Tao and cling, is a nightmare.

 

It's been more than two months now since Tao finally claimed Sehun. Sehun thought that they'd both calm down by now, or that at least he'd get used to dealing with the way Tao almost constantly wants him. He's a little amazed and a little of pleased about it, having realized just how much Tao always thinks about him and wants him close and just _craves_ him. It's however also fucking inconvenient to get boners in the middle of his class, wondering what Tao thought of for want to spike in him this much and hoping he was there so Sehun could sit in his lap, Tao's cock stuffed inside him, as Sehun listens to his teacher. Sehun's own arousal in turn fuels Tao's, and it's a vicious circle of desire and suppressed instincts.

Baekhyun laughs at him when Sehun complains to him because "why wouldn't you like it, getting to come so many times a day and making your alpha pine after you?" Yixing pats Sehun's butt and promises him he'll get used to it. "A little. Eventually." He doesn't specify a timeline and his eyes are a little wild, so it isn't consoling at all.

Sehun just thinks it's getting worse. Those first weeks, there was a lot of first times in general, a lot of exploring and cautiousness and awkwardness too. They were too aware of the bond, often trying to suppress the flow of emotions. Tao was forever careful with Sehun, and his desire was laced with awkward shyness to ask for things and let Sehun notice just how often a simple touch or a lick of Sehun's lips tied his stomach into knots. Sehun's worries didn't magically disappear overnight either. He didn't want to disappoint Tao or for Tao to get bored or annoyed with him, too aware of this being forever and not wanting to mess it up. The sex ended up often fumbling and never straying past the simpler handjobs or Tao sucking Sehun off then fucking him with restrained power while Sehun was embarrassed by how much he wanted to beg for more.

It has only broken recently after Sehun spent all day with his hard cock tucked against the waistband of his boxers, whimpering as the heat kept climbing into his cheeks. Tao had gotten him worked up in the shower that morning, but then didn't fuck him even if he clearly really wanted to because he was being all considerate about Sehun's long day at school or something like that. They both left the house hard and frustrated. By the end of the day Sehun experienced two of Tao's very unsatisfying orgasms as the other must have jerked off during his lunch break and then again when he got home while Sehun had no more than five minutes between classes and tutorials. Sehun could barely walk as he trudged home at the end of the day, and he didn't even let Tao get a word in sideways before he pushed him into one of the rooms. He came quickly, only rutting against Tao's thigh with Tao barely brushing his fingers against his rim, and Tao wanted to valiantly pull back or whatever. Sehun growled at him.

"You better fuck me until I don't remember one thing I learned in class today after what you've just made me go through," he said, biting the slope of Tao's shoulder, his nose pressed into Tao's neck, breathing him in. "We both know you want to, and I have no clue why you would think I don't want it back."

Tao groaned, his nails digging into Sehun's ass, his cock hard and heavy against Sehun's belly. Sometimes they forgot that even when they could feel so much of each other, spelling it out loud was necessary.

"I want to do so many things to you right now, though," Tao said, his voice wrecked. "I'm not sure that's okay. I don't even know where to start."

Sehun stepped back from him a little, backing towards the bed.

"Do whatever you want." He was hard again, and he couldn't wait for what would come next. He licked his lips nervously. "Anything. Tell me the first thing you can think of. We'll start there."

"I want you to suck me off. I want you to choke on my knot," Tao said. And fuck that was hot and so different from the way Tao was gentle and careful most of the time. Sehun didn't even think of that before, but he wanted it too. He was on his knees, nuzzling Tao's underbelly before he knew it.

"Fuck my mouth then," he said, and Tao growled, his fingers pulling at Sehun's hair roughly, tipping his head back a little and then guiding it so that Tao's cock was rubbing against Sehun's lips. His eyes were wild, the darkest Sehun's ever saw them, and he could feel before he heard Tao say "mine," possessively. Sehun shuddered, and the next moment Tao's cock was in his mouth, and his mind was blank, and he had no brain power to worry about anything at all.

Since then though the floods have opened, and it's been the two of them taking and taking as much as they wanted and giving too. Tao's fucked Sehun on every surface in this house they could manage, and Sehun got to fuck Tao too, wide eyed and absolutely bewildered when Tao asked him for it the first time. More than on one night they ended up watching television with others, but with Sehun sitting on Tao's dick the entire time under the blanket just because it felt so good and Sehun wanted Tao all the time now. By now Sehun loves the weight of Tao's cock on his tongue, his throat closing around its head as he struggles to breathe, and Tao too is so enthusiastic about Sehun's dick, it's almost endearing. Tao at times spends hours biting and kissing and sucking Sehun's skin in his reach, anywhere and everywhere, with his fingers up Sehun's ass, keeping Sehun on the edge, blabbing and sobbing in need until Sehun tells him all his secret fantasies and the darkest desires. It really isn't getting any better.

 

Today Tao was already gone when Sehun woke up. Sehun felt him pretty content until lunch, but then a spike of arousal run through him along with joy, and whatever it was that got Tao excited kept Sehun hot and bothered ever since then. He wanted to know what Tao was fantasizing about, but Tao only came back before dinner, and so here Sehun is, an absolute mess because apparently even eating messily is making Tao want him more right now. All Sehun needs is for everyone to finish their dinner and leave them alone so he can jump Tao, preferably right here. He wonders if Tao would fuck him on the kitchen table with Baekhyun and Chanyeol and Joonmyun playing video games just behind the kitchen door. He is so immersed in chewing and trying not to come just from thinking about it that he doesn't realize the kitchen is empty until Tao groans from across the table.

"Just a little longer," he says, pointedly looking at the door. "They're going to see a show in the next city over and they're staying the weekend," he whispers. "Everyone's going. They asked me if I wanted to go too at lunch today, but I told them that the two of us will stay behind to hold the fort."

Sehun's eyes widen. "Is this why you were so happy earlier? What if I wanted to go?" He pouts. Tao laughs, and it's a dry, raspy sound, just a little desperate.

"You'd rather spend the weekend watching a musical and then visiting museums or whatever with Joonmyun-hyung than hanging around the empty house with me?" he asks. A wave of arousal washes over Sehun.

"Oh." He licks his lips. "I guess not."

"You can be as loud as you want tonight," Tao says, and his eyes gleam. "Go wash up. I'll clean up and meet you in the shower?"

 

Sehun meets Baekhyun on the stairs, and Baekhyun takes one look at him, takes one good whiff of him, and laughs, slapping Sehun's ass. "Have fun, pup," he says, and from behind him Yixing pouts a little and grabs the back of Baekhyun's neck.

"Don't be mean Baekhyun. I still remember you not being able to walk and still asking for more so loud we all heard you back in the days."

"I'm not mean. I'm just jealous, hyung," Baekhyun whines, twisting in Yixing's hold and almost falling of the stairs when Yixing pushes him to move down. Sehun laughs, but it's choked, and then he's moving up the stairs again, shedding his clothes as quickly as possible and stepping under the barely warm stream of water. He sobs, his stomach too tight, and legs almost cramping. He doesn't want to touch himself now, not when Tao is so close, will be here so soon. He leans his forehead against the tiles and takes a deep breath, trying to settle the storm in him. He knows when Tao approaches, long before the bathroom door creaks, and he whimpers.

"They're gone," Tao says, his hands coming around to wrap around Sehun's chest, and he leans his forehead against Sehun's spine. "I'm sorry. I know how it's been for you today."

"Just," Sehun whines, pushes his ass back, and Tao moves so that his hard cock slips between Sehun's ass cheeks, rubbing up and down. He kisses the nape of Sehun's neck, his palms moving across Sehun's chest, fingers brushing Sehun's nipples, and Sehun comes just like that, shaking like a leaf while Tao holds him through it. He steps back a little when Sehun's breathing slows and grabs the shampoo. He washes Sehun's hair, his fingers soothing on Sehun's scalp even if the desire still simmers in Sehun's belly because Tao hasn't come and he still wants Sehun so much. It's always better though, when they can touch because Sehun's wolf is reassured by the presence of his mate, by the fact he can just reach over and hold on. He lets Tao rinse his hair and then spin him so they can finally kiss. Tao doesn't stop cleaning him though, even as he licks behind his ear, his hands busy, wandering down Sehun's body, cleaning thoroughly, everywhere. Sehun's breath gets labored again as Tao's fingers work over his ass and slip in him, just a little, spreading him and making Sehun hold himself like that while he grabs the shower head. The spray of water pushes against Sehun's spine and then lower, and he whines, holding still because Tao's murmuring for him to, right into his ears. He's so hard, again, and eventually, Tao lets up and has the water fall over their heads once more, as they kiss again.

Tao's hands are sure on Sehun's hips, and they rub up and down his sides until Sehun stops squirming and settles into Tao's touches, sighing and winding his arms around Tao's neck, nuzzling against his cheek. Sehun eventually pulls away enough to wash Tao's hair too, curious fingers running down his body, dipping into the v-shape of his hips, cupping his balls and massaging Tao's ass because Sehun loves it, loves how firm and prominent it is. Tao smiles at him, his palm warm on Sehun's cheek, his thumb rubbing under Sehun's eye. "Let's get out of here," he says, and Sehun goes, pliant and relaxed.

"I can't believe you still didn't fuck me," he sighs, as Tao dries them halfheartedly. Tao's eyes flash again.

"I want to do something else first," he says, and pushes Sehun out of the bathroom, spinning him so that he plops onto the bed, face first.

"On your hands and knees, pup," Tao says, and it's a bit commanding. Sehun shivers and scrambles to obey. Tao chuckles and kisses a path across the small of Sehun's back, hands on Sehun's ass.

"I love your ass," Tao says, and Sehun huffs a little because he's just thought the same.

"Believe me, it's mutual," he says, and tries to sound flippant, but he's just breathless. Tao's mouth has moved lower, mouthing at one of Sehun's ass cheeks, and Sehun's face burns red. 

"Hmmm," Tao murmurs, and hot hair hits Sehun's hole. He stiffens, now almost sure what's about to come. His thighs cramp up again, and he feels his cock twitch. Tao gives Sehun's puckered rim a lick and kind of just _purrs_ , sending pleasure vibrating through Sehun's body.

"Fuck," Sehun swears, and Tao chuckles, but then his tongue pushes inside Sehun and all air leaves Sehun's lungs. Tao lifts a little, and Sehun arches more, ass jutting up, and stifles a whine.

"I want to hear how good this feels," Tao says, and Sehun knows Tao loves when Sehun's loud. He remembers the house is empty and that Tao's probably been thinking of this since noon, and he moans, unbidden. He feels Tao's nails dig into his ass, spreading him more, and then his tongue is back, pushing deeper, then pulling back and licking teasingly around the rim again. Sehun practically snarls at the wet, hot feeling, and Tao dips his tongue inside again. He's not hesitant about it at all, and soon he's flicking his tongue in and out of Sehun, fast and sure. Sehun moans, his whole body shivering, the heat coiling in his stomach, and Tao hums against Sehun's ass in approval.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Sehun gasps, and Tao slips a finger inside him to the first knuckle, pulling him apart, the tongue circling the rim just on the inside of it. Sehun practically shrieks at the sensation, and Tao goes back to fucking him with his tongue, pads of two index fingers holding him open now. Sehun's cock twitches with every push in, with every hot breath against his ass. He rocks back when Tao pulls away to take a deep breath and whimpers in protest. Tao laughs, but it's a deep, broken sound, and he dips right back.

"You're going to come just like this, Sehunnie, aren't you? Just from my tongue," he says against Sehun's ass. His teeth scrape across the cheek of it, and Tao pushes his tongue as deep as it can go, his nose digging into the tender skin above Sehun's hole. Sehun clenches around him, and Tao moans. Sehun wails, rocking back desperately, and it's more him fucking himself on Tao's tongue than the other way around.

He's blabbing, incoherent, and then Tao holds him still, thumbs pushing against the rim, fingers firm around Sehun's ass, and he flicks his tongue, in and out until Sehun convulses, collapsing against the sheets and coming with a long moan. Tao flips him around, stroking his cock through it and watching in fascination. When Sehun's cock goes soft, Tao lubes two of his fingers properly and pushes them inside of Sehun, watching them disappear in him.

"You're so fucking good for me," he praises, and Sehun keens, bringing his legs up towards his chest. Tao's so hard his knot is already prominent, and his fingers slide easily in and out of Sehun. Sehun's sensitive, but his own sated pleasure mixes with Tao's building one. He feels the way Tao practically preens about what he's managed, and Sehun's absolutely crushed with it.

"Fuck me already," he hisses. Tao gasps in shock when he realizes Sehun's half hard already.

"How," he starts, and Sehun snarls at him again.

"I've been waiting to have your dick in me since noon, and you're so--" he says, and Tao's kissing him hungrily, probably finally separating his own desire from Sehun's. Tao's always let their emotions mix more freely, intertwining, while Sehun still fights to keep their feelings apart. Maybe if he lets go, their bond will finally settle. But for now, he can't think more because Tao's three fingers push against his prostate and he writhes. "Just get in me already," he growls.

"So bossy," Tao laughs, absolutely breathless, and grabs Sehun's shins to spread his legs wider. Sehun arches off the blanket when Tao pushes in. He starts rocking into Sehun right away, panting and moaning, his head dropping onto Sehun's chest where Sehun keeps a hand in Tao's hair. It takes only three more sharp snaps of Tao's hips, Sehun hiccuping because he's sensitive and on edge too soon, and Tao's knot locks them together. Tao only rolls his hips now, the knot pressing against Sehun's prostate constantly, and Sehun squeezes around him again and again. Tao moves his head a little so he can tongue Sehun's nipple, and his hands pull Sehun's hips down sharply, as if he could bury himself any deeper. Sehun comes then and pulls Tao's orgasm out of him too. They shudder together, barely breathing until Sehun's cock softens again, and Sehun mewls pitifully when Tao drops on top of him.

"Fuck that was hot," Sehun says, when he catches his breath, and Tao chuckles into his neck.

"I knew you'd like it," he says smugly. "I have more ideas so don't think I'm done with you."

Sehun shivers, and he feels his stomach flop pathetically. "Maybe I should have gone on the museum tour with hyungs after all," he deadpans, and Tao pokes him in the ribs.

"I just ate you out, and you're complaining?" he asks, tickling Sehun, who whines as the knot in him presses against his prostate again.

"Stop moving, you dick," he says to Tao, grabbing Tao's neck and pulling him into a messy kiss. Tao laughs and spins them around so Sehun's on top. This time Sehun sighs in relief. To have boners in class or in grocery stores or just walking down the street is super inconvenient, but to feel Tao's happiness and affection settle deep in his bones is the best. Tao scrapes his teeth behind Sehun's ear and licks over the faint scar of the bite which claimed Sehun as his, and Sehun takes a deep breath of them. Tao smells like him, and he smells like Tao, and soon Sehun won't be able to tell the difference. The sleepiness washes over him, and he thinks, yet again, it's all worth it.

end

**a/n** : Why would I dabble in my mostly finished universes? Tell me why? ;__; Please do point out, if you see a typo ♥


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